How to resize a video in Windows

by Hammad on November 12, 2010

Video resizing can be an integral part of video editing. Sometimes you might need to re-size a video while editing so that it fits certain screen sizes. Sometimes resizing the video can bring its actual file size down. Video resizing is something that been made very easy thanks to a free video editor called VirtualDub. This tutorial will guide you through the steps required to re-size a video.

Download VirtualDub and extract the ZIP file. There is no installer for VirtualDub, so you may want to extract the folder to somewhere you’ll remember.

Then run the program VirtualDub.exe from inside that folder.

When you start the software for the first time, it will ask you to accept the license agreement. Click OK.

The Before we start… window gives some interesting info. Read it over and then click the Start VirtualDub button.

Now it’s time to open the video that you want to resize. To do so, navigate to File -> Open video file… and browse to the video you want to open. Select it and click OK.

After adding the video, go to Video and from the drop down list select Filters.

Click the Add… button

In the Add Filter window scroll down the list until you find the entry titled resize. Select it and click OK to add it.

Next, the Filter: Resize window will open. From here you can tweak the settings for resizing your videos. There are two options available to resize the window, Absolute or Relative resizing. Absolute resizing simply reduces the size of the video without considering the aspect ratio of the video. Relative resizing considers the aspect ratio of the video while resizing. If you’re using Absolute resizing, it is recommended that you check the radio button for Aspect Ratio -> Same as source so your video does not shrink or expand unevenly.

Make any further adjustments (trial and error can be the best way to determine your ideal output file). Specify the new video resolution and any other settings (letterboxing or cropping of the resized video). When you’re done, select File -> Save as AVI…. This will export your resized video. The process can take anywhere from a couple of minutes to.. quite a while, depending in no small part on the length and quality of the video and/or the speed of your PC.

Once the process has completed, give your “new” resized video a watch. If it isn’t exactly what you wanted, repeat the above steps and experiment with Absolute vs. Relative resizing, letterboxing etc.